Chapter 2: THE NATURE OF THE SEPARATION

16) What is A Course in Miracles'
view of time?

Answer Part 1: From the perspective
of A Course in Miracles, all of time has already occurred, even
though "it seems to have a future still unknown to us" (W-pl.158.3:7).
In order to understand the Course, it is vital to get a glimpse of the
view of time that Jesus is presenting. Otherwise, it will be very difficult
to understand the metaphysics and its application. As he clearly states
in this passage from the manual for teachers:

In order to understand the
teaching-learning plan of salvation [the plan of the Atonement], it is
necessary to grasp the concept of time that the course sets forth (M-2.2:1).

When we accepted the belief in our minds
(before there were bodies) that we could be our own creator -- i.e., self-created
-- we set into motion a series of cause and effect relationships. The easiest
way to understand this is to consider that if we entertained the thought
that we could make an opposite to Heaven, one of the effects of this thought
would be the beginning of a dream world of time and space, and all the
ways that we would manifest the effects of that thought; for example, all
the many scripts of our various so-called lifetimes.

Another analogy is that an effect of
that insane thought produced a dream-hologram of hatred, which has time
and space as its template. Therefore, it is important to recognize that
once the mind of the Sonship seemed to fall asleep, it entertained thoughts
that were opposite to what truly is. For example: